Google is ahead of the curve in terms of developing a smartphone you wear rather than hold. Project Glass is already a functioning, if quite limited platform, and it seems phone manufacturers are now starting to prototype their own versions of a head-mounted smartphone.

One of those manufacturers is NTT Docomo. Having already shown several concept devices at CEATEC Japan this week including the Grip UI, one of the more adventurous is a four-function head-mounted smartphone that, just like Project Glass, will take the form of a pair of glasses.

The prototype looks like something out of a 60s sci-fi movie, but the on-board tech and features already sounds interesting. Top of the list is video calling, which you’d think is quite difficult as how are you going to see the person who is wearing the glasses? Docomo is solving that problem with an array of 5 camera built into the unit. Each of the five uses a fish-eye lens to capture the user’s eyes and their surroundings. That information is then combined with a stored image of the user’s face to produce an animated version of them for transmission. An additional camera on the back of the device also captures what’s behind the user and uses that as the background for the video call.

Three further functions have also been promised alongside the standard ability to make a call. The head-mounted phone will be able to monitor the wearer’s vitals and give feedback on blood pressure, body temperature, your pulse, and even levels of body odors. If you’re wearing the glasses all day, every day, it’s soon going to build up a significant amount of data about your health.

Docomo also referred to a virtual office function, but gave little detail other than to state the phone would be able to detect and respond to hand movements. This could lead to the ability to produce documents/emails by typing on an augmented reality keyboard the phone only shows the wearer.

Finally, there will be augmented reality shopping, which would place information next to products the user looks at. You can adjust how much information is displayed next to a product, and even purchase it using voice commands depending on whether you’re in a store that supports the function.

This all sounds very next-gen, and I’m sure we won’t see anything beyond prototypes for many months if not a year. But such tech does sound promising and could one day see everyone wearing intelligent glasses rather than having a phone in their pocket.

Reader Comments

lostviking

Well, I don’t see that design making it. Google is heading in the right direction, but they and everyone need to keep the glasses light, put the phone in a box you put in your pocket so the main batteries are there too.